kennedyd

It was listed with the bungalow excursion. I don't remember the cost but I am sure it is still listed. I believe when we ordered it we had to go the excursions desk to order it but I may be mistaken - you might be able to order it prior to your cruise thru the planner

There is no longer food delivered to the bungalows UNLESS you pre-order the gourmet lunch. In that case they bring the food from the buffet along with the other items in the gourmet lunch. It is all served on white linen in a course-by-course manner. I highly recommend it.

Drinks will be brought to you by the constant stream of servers from the bar.

It IS really good. The service makes it all the better - white linen table cloth and everything served in courses. You will love it.

If you have purchased the all inclusive drink package, can you use it on the island? Thank you.

Yes.

I've bought 2 watches over the years from Goldfingers on Front Street without any issues, although they were not Rolexes.

They have a Rolex boutique in the back of one of their stores. When I checked prices there last March they were almost the exact same as what was available from the Rolex dealers in the States, with the only savings being sales tax (which in Texas at over 8% is significant).

I don't know about prices in England, but I would try to figure out the model I wanted and get firm prices on it before I left home and then compare at Goldfingers.

Good Luck!

We had one of the private bungalows in the "family area" last March. Apparently they were not sold out because when we checked in with the gentleman responsible for the bungalows he told us which one we had been assigned to and asked if that was ok or whether we would prefer to be closer to the bar and restrooms. Guess it depends on how busy they are.

Having cruised on Celebrity (Solstice and Reflection) and Princess (Emerald and Royal), I think you may have answered your own question in your second sentence IF you are most interested in the ship experience rather than the ports.

Royal Princess is very nice but I did not find it up to the standards of Solstice and Reflection. Just my opinion of course but it just didn't seem to measure up.

On the other hand, if it is the ports that are of paramount importance to you, then you should definitely go with Royal and I don't think you will be disappointed.

We had a bungalow in March. You are basically correct as to the difference. The Sanctuary bungalows are a bit further down the beach and not open to "walking traffic". Our bungalow area, however, did have folk not staying in the bungalows walking back and forth to the bar and bathroom. It was not a problem for us, but had there been lots of kids running around it might have been a different story.

We were there in March off the Royal. We were on a tour that stopped for shopping in downtown and we just went to Magic Ice instead so I don't know about cabs. It is located one block off the main drag in the middle of downtown. Their website will show you exactly.

Magic Ice itself was fun but pretty expensive. It was worth it for my wife who is from Canada and loves it really cold!

You will need to go to the excursion desk to pay for the extra 2 people if you did not do so within the cruise planner. Tickets for the tender will be delivered to your room along with the instructions for where to catch the golf cart to take you to your bungalow. Again, because there will be 6 of you, you might have to go to the excursion desk for additional tender tickets.

Enjoy and don't forget your water shoes - the rocks are really bad in front of the bungalows.

I remember reading the menu before we even ordered the gourmet lunch, but it might have been in a post here on Cruise Critic. They will definitely have the menu for the gourmet lunch at the excursion desk. I remember clearly reading it to see if there was anything we might not like - there wasn't!

We tipped the drink waiters each time they brought us something - there were several walking around all the time. The crew that served our lunch we slipped extra cash when we were leaving. I believe the cost of the lunch includes tip but we thought they deserved more.

If you look at the excursion options, the gourmet lunch used to be listed there with the "usual" contents. I'm not sure if it is still there. We had fruit, wonderful fresh seafood salad, deserts, as well as a sampling of everything from the regular beach buffet (they served that to us also). There may have been more, I just don't recall. I know it was way more than the 2 of us could eat.

Other than the beach being so rocky, it was absolutely perfect and I would do it again if I had the opportunity.

We rented a bungalow in March. They do NOT deliver food unless you order the gourmet lunch. Waiters will bring drinks from the bar, however.

The goumet lunch is delivered in courses by a team of servers asssigned to your bungalow. You may need to check the website to see the menu as I believe it has changed. Aside from the given menu, however, they also bring some of everything from the regular barbeque buffet.

The bungalow and the service were wonderful, as was the lunch. The beach in the vicinity of the bungalows is, however, so rocky as to be almost unusable. Be sure and take water shoes.

Yes, you can. We were there in March and had the All Inclusive Drink package (they had just started offering it on Royal) and had anything we wanted from the bars.

Fblack brings up a good point I forgot to mention - always buy from an authorized dealer so you have a valid warranty.

The Tag Heuer boutique, for example, is authorized for Tag, Tissot, and Raymond Weil (and maybe some others); Kay is authorized for Ball; A.H.Riise is authorized for several major brands; Little Switzerland is authorized for Breitling and some others. Be sure the waranty is valid for the U.S. and not limited to some other foreign country (I have seen some examples of thiis in the islands) and get it "dealer stamped" before leaving the store.

I have bought 3 watches in St. Martin over the last 4 years. I felt I got a good deal each time and had done my homework ahead of time. I didn't buy one this past March when I had the chance and now regret passing up what was a really good deal on a Ball watch. In my defense, they didn't have the model I was looking for and I had not researched the one that they had that I liked, so I decided to pass.

Regardless, I tried on 2 of my trips to buy a Tag Heuer but the price was no better than here in the states. There is a Tag boutique and I wish you luck in finding what you want at a price you like. When I was there in March they had a really good selection.

Kay Jewelry has a store on Front street and one at the foot of the pier in St. Martin. Not sure if they carry Oris or not, but it would be worth stopping and asking as they offered me what I later found to be a tremendous price on a Ball watch.

We did Godfrey's tour with Coral World in March. There was adequate time for us to see the facility. We were 2 adults - had there been children along or had we opted to do one of the "encounters" the time might have been inadequate. You have the same amount of time as is allowed for the beach as both are the same stop on the tour.

We were in D410 in March and the balcony was wonderful. Nice size due to being in the "curve", covered, protected from wind when underway, unobstructed. We DID experience the extremely long waits for elevators since there is no central staircase.

Sorry. I put "Reflection" instead of Royal in my earlier reply. Guess I was just still thinking about the Aqua Suite we had on Reflection a year ago.

The angled balcony the Royal's D410 has is great, however. The new "standard" sized balconies are shameful in my opinion. If you use your balcony at all, try to get one of the angled ones.

We were in D410 on Reflection 4 weeks ago. Nice size balcony with the large projection at the front edge which kept wind to a minimum. It was under the Seaview Bar and the soft lighting at night was very nice. The "standard" balconies are so small we would have been very disappointed had we not managed to get this "extra large" one.

Yes, just go to the Excursions desk and ask them to sign you up. They will tell you the menu and you will have priority tender tickets in your stateroom the night before you get to Princess Cays. It is truly a wonderful lunch with real cloth napkins, a tablecloth, and real silverware instead of plastic. It is a lot of food and the serice we had was excellent.

Enjoy!

We were in D410 on Reflection 4 weeks ago. Nice size balcony with the large projection at the front edge which kept wind to a minimum. It was under the Seaview Bar and the soft lighting at night was very nice. The "standard" balconies are so small we would have been very disappointed had we not managed to get this "extra large" one.

We were there 3 weeks ago and didn't see any problem. Toured both sides of the island

Good luck. We didn't see anyone bringing food for the cabanas other than the waiters who brought the gourmet lunch. There is a very nice gentleman (forgot his name) who will check you into your cabana and I suggest you explain your needs to him and see if he can help. If he doesn't offer anything, then select one of the bar waiters and tell them early on what you need - there may be some rule against them bringing food but I don't know.

I think you have 2 options (other than ordering the gourmet lunch for 4):

1. when you check in to the cabana explain to the attendant that you have this issue and ask if they can assign someone to get food for you if you are willing to tip them.

2. try making friends with one of the folks serving drinks (tip them well) and just before lunch time ask them if they can please help you get food for the 2 people who can't go to the buffet.

The gourmet lunch is great! The day we were there EVERYTHING on the buffet was burned to a crisp - it was terrible. Salads were ok.

We were there 3 weeks ago. No free lunch delivered anymore (don't know when they stopped). We ordered the "gourmet lunch" which included several really good things along with all the inedible stuff from the bar-b-que. It was delivered to our cabana in courses and we had an attendant who's sole job it was to see we enjoyed our lunch.

Well worth the $25/person!